Pop Up Perfume Bar Safety: The Questions Worth Asking

What IFRA is, in plain words

IFRA stands for the International Fragrance Association. It sets the global safety standards for fragrance ingredients. Those standards rest on research into how materials behave on skin.

Put simply, IFRA guidelines limit how much of certain materials can go into a product that touches skin, and in some cases rule a material out entirely. The goal is to protect against skin irritation and sensitization. Sensitization is an allergic reaction that can build over time with repeated contact.

When a perfume bar says its materials are IFRA compliant, it means the fragrance materials it uses follow these standards. It is one of the clearest signs that a bar takes skin seriously.

Questions to ask any pop up perfume bar before you book

A good perfume bar will be glad you asked. These questions are friendly, quick and very revealing.

Are your fragrance materials IFRA compliant? A simple yes or no to start. Can you share safety documentation? Many materials come with a safety data sheet, or SDS, a document listing a material's safety details. How do you dilute blends for skin? Perfume is diluted in perfumer's alcohol, and the strength should be intentional. Do you disclose allergens? Some natural materials contain known allergens, and guests with sensitivities deserve to know.

Finally, ask who will guide your guests. Trained hosts make the experience calmer, faster and safer, especially with kids in the room.

How we approach safety at our pop up perfume bar

Every Glitters and Grace bar is perfumer-led and run by trained hosts. Our founder, Cheryl Gleason, studied perfumery with master perfumer Karen Gilbert and at the Institute for Art and Olfaction in Los Angeles, and she is also a cosmetic and skincare formulator.

We work with IFRA-compliant perfume materials and keep documentation for them. Our palette is built on absolutes, CO2 extracts and essential oils. Absolutes are the richest extracts drawn from flowers and plants. CO2 extracts are captured with pressure instead of heat. Essential oils are distilled from plants. Every fragrance is made by hand in our New Lenox lab.

Each guest leaves with one product: an eau de parfum, a perfume-strength spray made at 50% fragrance material to perfumer's alcohol, in a 15 ml or 20 ml bottle. Signage and our hosts explain each step, and kids ages 5 and up work with age-appropriate formulas. You can read the details on our allergens and safety page.

Tips for guests with sensitive skin

If you know certain fragrance materials bother you, tell your host before you start blending. We are happy to steer you toward other choices.

Smelling happens on paper test strips, so you can explore the whole bar without putting anything on your skin. Take your time. A scent you love on paper is a great place to start.

And if you simply want to enjoy the scents without wearing one, that is fine, too. The bottle makes a lovely gift for someone at home.

Where we bring our pop up perfume bar

We serve Chicagoland, greater Milwaukee and the Indianapolis metro, with no travel fees in those areas. That includes Chicago, the North Shore, the west and southwest suburbs, Naperville, Oak Brook and Hinsdale.

Showers, birthdays, ladies' nights and company events all work. Boutiques, salons and coffee shops can also host a bar for their customers. See how pop up events work, or compare our three perfume bar formats.